MATCHING UNEMPLOYMENT AND VACANCIES IN REGIONAL LABOR MARKETS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS FOR THE NETHERLANDS

ABSTRACT In this paper we analyze regional developments in unemployment and vacancies in the Netherlands during the 1980s. Our purpose is to establish to what extent the differences in unemployment and vacancy rates are due to difference in regional labor market performance. The analysis is carried out by considering labor market dynamics using the concept of the matching function. We find a constant returns to scale matching function with coefficients of 0.25 for unemployment and 0.75 for vacancies. Efficiency rises substantially during the recession in the beginning of the 1980s. Regional differences in efficiency appear to be small for most regions, suggesting that a reduction in regional unemployment should by stimulating regional labor demand.     

Patterning: Strategies for Patterning Biomolecules with Dip‐Pen Nanolithography (Small 8/2011)

Dip‐pen nanolithography (DPN) is an atomic force microscopy (AFM)‐based lithography technique, which has the ability to fabricate patterns with a feature size down to approximately 15 nm using both top‐down and bottom‐up approaches. DPN utilizes the water meniscus formed between an AFM tip and a substrate to transfer ink molecules onto surfaces. A major application of this technique is the fabrication of micro‐ and nano‐arrays of patterned biomolecules. To achieve this goal, a variety of chemical approaches has been used. This review concisely describes the development of DPN in the past decade and presents the related chemical strategies that have been reported to fabricate biomolecular paterns with DPN at micrometer and nanometer scale, classified into direct‐ and indirect DPN methodologies, discussing tip‐functionalization strategies as well.     

面向新型消费应用的IEEE802．15．4ZigBee

新兴的基于802．15．4的超低功耗无线网络的开发有望引起消费电子产业的革命：新产品、新特性、新的联网家庭，而且可能无须电池。     

The Influence of Model Parameters on BEG/MEG Single Dipole Source Estimation

This paper deals with source localization and strength estimation based on EEG and MEG data. It describes an estimation method (inverse procedure) which uses a four-spheres model of the head and a single current dipole. The dependency of the inverse solution on model parameters is investigated. It is found that sphere radii and conductivities influence especially the strength of the EEG equivalent dipole and not its location or direction. The influence on the equivalent dipole of the gradiometer is investigated. In general the MEG produces better location estimates than the EEG whereas the reverse is found for the component estimates. An inverse solution simultaneously based on EEG and MEG data appears slightly better than the average of separate EEG and MEG solutions. Variances of parameter estimators which can be calculated on the basis of a linear approximation of the model, were tested by Monte Carlo simulations.     

Housing market change in Amsterdam: Some trends

This article resulted from a research project sponsored by the Vereniging Amsterdamse Bouwbedrijven. We want to thank Arno Bongenaar for this assistance during the project.     

Intramolecular crosslinking of poly(vinyl alcohol)

Poly(vinyl alcohol) is crosslinked in dilute solution (c=0.1 wt%) with glutaraldehyde. The reaction product is characterized by viscometry and gel permeation chromatography (g.p.c.). The intrinsic viscosity decreases with increasing degree of crosslinking and does not depend on temperature. G.p.c. reveals that the reaction product is not homogeneous, but consists of a mixture of particles with different sizes, possibly both intra- and intermolecularly crosslinked molecules. The intramolecularly crosslinked molecules are smaller in size than the initial polymer molecules and their size depends on the degree of crosslinking. They possess a narrow particle size distribution even if the initial polymer sample had a broad molecular weight distribution.     

Social acceptance of carbon dioxide storage

This article discusses public acceptance of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Responses by citizens are described in relation to responses by professionally involved actors. Interviews with members of the government, industry and environmental NGOs showed that these professional actors are interested in starting up storage projects, based on thorough evaluation processes, including discussions on multi-actor working groups. As appeared from a survey among citizens living near a potential storage site (N=103), public attitudes in general were slightly positive, but attitudes towards storage nearby were slightly negative. The general public appeared to have little knowledge about CO₂-storage, and have little desire for more information. Under these circumstances, trust in the professional actors is particularly important. NGOs were found to be trusted most, and industry least by the general public. Trust in each of the three actors appeared to depend on perceived competence and intentions, which in turn were found to be related to perceived similarity of goals and thinking between trustee and trustor. Implications for communication about CCS are discussed.     

Primary and secondary diagnosis of multi-agent plan execution

Diagnosis of plan failures is an important subject in both single- and multi-agent planning. Plan diagnosis can be used to deal with plan failures in three ways: (i) to provide information necessary for the adjustment of the current plan or for the development of a new plan, (ii) to point out which equipment and/or agents should be repaired or adjusted to avoid further violation of the plan execution, and (iii) to identify the agents responsible for plan-execution failures. We introduce two general types of plan diagnosis: primary plan diagnosis identifying the incorrect or failed execution of actions, and secondary plan diagnosis that identifies the underlying causes of the faulty actions. Furthermore, three special cases of secondary plan diagnosis are distinguished, namely agent diagnosis, equipment diagnosis and environment diagnosis.